Young Love
by jadedcutie494
Summary: It's season 3, Dean n Rory are no longer a couple, Jess is just a friend, and Tristan is back... they're thrown together for a project, but is he still the same Tristan? Will Rory let herself accept the new Tristan? Kinda sounds lame, hopefully it's not!


A/N: ok, I'm back!! I know, it's been ages, and sorry this isn't an update for one of my stories, I'm having a little bit of a block, but I am working on them, just slowly. Anyway, this is a TRORY oneshot, the timeline's a bit ambiguous, but it's season 3, post Dean/Rory breakup, but she and Jess are just friends. And Tristan's back at Chilton, obviously... anyway, hope you like it

Disclaimer: I don't own GG, if I did, Tristan would've never left...

Young Love

'Class, today we're starting a new assignment, to be completed in pairs over the next three weeks. The assignment is on, of course, Shakespeare's Macbeth, as we've been studying it for the past week. This assignment will have three components. You and your partner will submit an essay; 3,000 words on the key themes, with a close look at a specific moment you feel highlight these best. You will also perform a dramatic reading of a key moment, not necessarily the same as the one from your essay, and this must last five minutes. And the last bit is a ten minute oral, briefly discussing your choice of scenes for the dramatic reading, as well as a presenting a diorama showing how you would stage this in a theatre and why. I will now pair you up, and there will be _no_ discussion, and no swapping. Louise and Jacob, Madeleine and Ryan, Paris and Edward, Rory and Tristan...'

Rory's head snapped up from where she'd been writing down the instructions, and she stared at her teacher like he'd grown another head. Her and _Tristan!_ There was clearly someone out there who hated her. She'd broken up with Dean a week ago, and now she was going to have to spend three weeks working on a project that was...

'And just so you know, this is worth 50 of your final grade.' Damn it! She looked over at Paris, who was glaring at her partner, then at Madeleine and Louise, who looked very pleased. Finally, she looked back at where Tristan sat in the back corner, but surprisingly she didn't see the smirk she was expecting. He was studying her, brows creased in thought as he considered her. Finally, he gave her a half smirk, hardly up to his usual standards, and she turned back, confused.

'Now, we have fifteen minutes left of class, I want you to break into your pairs, that I have assigned, and outline a plan for the next three weeks. I expect this to up to par with our standards here at Chilton. The presentations will take place over two lessons in the final weeks of term, before the winter break. You may begin, and I will tell you, use your time wisely.'

Everyone stood and started moving around the room. Rory looked back at Tristan, who made no attempt to move, so she picked up her books and made her way back to the empty desk next to him. She dropped her books with a bang, and he smirked lightly again.

'There it is.' She said to herself, and he raised an eyebrow in question. 'The infamous Dugrey smirk.' She clarified, and he nodded, and shot her a smile instead, although she noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes.

'Ok, so how are we gonna do this? Cause we don't, if I'm correct and I usually am, we don't have our study hall period at the same time, and I don't think our lunches will provide sufficient time.' Tristan started, and Rory stared at him in disbelief. 'What?'

'Nothing, just... where's the full-blown smirk, or the sexual innuendos or even _Mary_?' She asked, staring at him, and he shrugged.

'Didn't think it was quite the right time for it, since we need to figure this out now since I've gotta leave quickly at the end of the day. Why, do you want me to say something sexual and call you Mary?' He asked, leaning towards her and for just a second, a fraction of a second really, she felt her heart beat faster. But she shook her head, and put her hand out to push him back.

'Alright, forget I said anything. So, you were talking times? Well, I agree about lunch, plus I enjoy my music and food to preferably not be associated with homework. So that just leaves after school or weekends.'

'Yeah. Well, how about we start tomorrow after school? It's Friday, so we won't have to worry about school or anything the next day. We can outline everything we need to do in detail, pick our passages, that kind of stuff.'

'Sure, that sounds... oh, Friday? We do Friday night dinners at the Grandparent's every Friday. Um, well, maybe we could do it at your place, and I can go straight to dinner. Two and a half hours should be enough for the first planning session, shouldn't?' She started to make a few notes, oblivious to the look Tristan was giving her, trying to suppress a smirk and dirty comment that had sprung into his mind at her words. 'Tristan?'

'Hmm? Oh, yeah, sounds good. So, we can go straight there from school tomorrow. I'll meet you at your locker, then I'll drive us.' He stood up as the bell rang, startling her.

'Uh... ok, that sounds great. See you tomorrow then.' She said, and he nodded before turning and leaving the room. _Well, that was weird, even for Tristan,_ Rory thought as she collected her books and left the classroom.

Rory didn't see Tristan the next day, in any of their classes, so she was unsure as she made her way to his locker at the end of the day. She didn't see how he would be there if he hadn't been in school all day, but as usual, he surprised her, this time simply by being there, leaning against his locker. He had his eyes closed, looking like he was trying to block out the world, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Despite his calm appearance, Rory could see the strain on his face, the way his jaw was clenched tight. It had a strange effect on her, seeing him like this, in a rare unguarded moment, and she felt a sudden urge to hug him. She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts as she stepped up to him.

'Hey,' she said softly, and his eyes snapped open and he looked down at her. When he didn't say anything, she looked down for a minute, just to escape his gaze. 'I didn't think you'd be here, you weren't in class...'

'I had to be somewhere. But I'm here now, so what do you say you and I go get started on this project?' He asked, trying to change the subject subtly and failing, at least in Rory's opinion.

'Sure.' But she didn't push it, she had three weeks of this project to get it out of him, after all.

'So, we can set up in here. I'm really the only one who ever uses this room, my parents aren't home enough to really remember it's here.' He showed her into a room the size of Luke's, up on the second floor, set up like a mix between a home entertainment centre and a quiet 

study/reading area. There was a long, low table, surrounded by cushions and even a couple of bean bags. 'You can leave your stuff here, we can go get some food.' She nodded, too in awe to say anything. She followed him back out the room, down the stairs and into the kitchen.

'Good afternoon Marie, this is Rory Gilmore, a friend from Chilton. Is there any coffee?'

'Of course, I'll make some up. There's some pasta in the fridge, enough for two if you're hungry, and I'll get out some bread rolls. Sit, sit. So Rory, you're a friend of Tristan's from school?' The elderly woman reminded her of Mrs Potts; aiming to please and serve, but also worried about everyone around her. Rory smiled at her.

'Yes, we're working on a project for English. You sound surprised, why?' Marie chuckled, throwing a look at Tristan, who was glaring at her, which Rory didn't miss.

'Oh nothing, just the last time Tristan brought home a friend from school, particularly a girl, it was 9 years ago, when he brought home young Paris Gellar.' Rory, who had just been taking a sip from her cup of coffee, choked. She spun to look at Tristan, her eyes wide.

'You brought _Paris_ home? As a friend?'

'In my defence, we were only 9 at the time, she wasn't anywhere near as neurotic and obsessive as she is now, and we _were_ friends. For a brief time.' Rory still looked stunned.

'What? You're friends with her now,' he pointed out.

'True, but... it's still weird. I mean, I knew you guys had known each other for years, but still... aww, that's so cute, you two were friends. That's probably when she fell in love with you, you know.' Tristan groaned and hung his head.

'She's not in love with me.' His words were muffled by his arms as his head lay on them.

'Well, no, not any more. She's moved on to Jamie, who I think is very good for her. But just think, if she'd never met him, she'd still be pining away after you.' She laughed as Tristan shuddered. 'Oh come on, she's not that bad.'

'Try having her be in love with you and then we'll see what you say. She's fine as a friend, especially good at listening and giving advice, but when she's in love with you, that's a different story, well, you know what she was like.'

'It always sounds lovely to have someone be in love with you, but when you don't return the feelings, it gets tricky.' Marie said as she placed their food in front of them. 'But when someone returns the feelings, it's the best feeling in the world.' She gave them a smile, and then moved out of the room.

'Well that was odd,' Tristan said, and Rory shrugged, digging into her pasta.

'So that was Rory Gilmore, huh?' Marie walked into his room without announcing herself as per usual after he'd driven Rory to her grandparent's house.

'Yeah, it was.' He answered from his spot on his bed.

'What happened to Mary?' Tristan shot up off his bed.

'What?' Marie laughed.

'You should know Tristan, there's always someone listening in this house. I happened to overhear a conversation between you and Izzy before your father sent you to Military School, and of course, your lovely display of your feminine side; you left your English folder on your desk when you left, her name was all over it.' She chuckled as he blushed, and pulled a pillow over his face. 'Now, it's nothing to be ashamed of, it's just me. So tell me, what happened to her? Because I saw the way you looked at Miss Gilmore this afternoon.'

'Marie... I really don't want to tell you this, but since I have the feeling you won't be leaving my room any time soon if I _don't_, you have to swear not to say anything, especially since Rory and I still have three weeks left of this project.' He felt the dip a little as she sat on the edge. The pillow was lifted off his face, and he was presented with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. He raised an eyebrow as he looked up at her.

'Just in case I needed to bribe it out of you.' She answered with a shrug.

'Ok, so Rory _is_ Mary. It's a nickname. And I have to ask what you did with that folder, it needs to be destroyed' he said, sitting up and picking a cookie off the plate. She smiled at him and he groaned. 'I'm not getting it back, am I?'

'Maybe, in a few years.' With that, she left the plate on his table and walked out of his room.

'Tristan... Tristan...' Rory sat on the edge of his bed, softly poking the lump in an attempt to wake him up. She sighed, and reached over to yank the covers off when something hit her from behind, pushing her down onto Tristan, knocking the wind out of her.

Tristan could vaguely hear someone calling his name, but he tried to block it out until something landed heavily on him, waking him up. He moved the covers off and turned his head, finding himself face to face with Rory.

'Rory?' He mumbled, confused.

'Uh, hey, I was trying to wake you up when something knocked me over.' He grinned.

'You know, you don't need to make up excuses to get into bed with me.' He told her, trademark smirk in place, and she rolled her eyes.

'As much as I would love to get you in bed, I'm not kidding. That same something is currently holding me down.' He looked over her shoulder and laughed at the sight of Izzy sprawled out on Rory's back pinning her down.

'Oh sorry, that's Izzy, she usually does this, way better than an alarm. She doesn't have an off button. Izzy, down.' Izzy looked up at him, and shuffled backwards, before jumping off the bed. 'Izzy, up on the end of the bed.' He pointed to the other end of his bed, and Izzy jumped up, before making himself comfortable.

'Cute dog. Yours?'

'Yeah, you know, I'm not entirely sure my parents know I have him. I bought him about three years ago, right before you came to Chilton actually. Marie looked after him while I was in North Carolina, and he's really quiet, and house broken, so my parents don't really notice him. Which I guess is a good thing.'

'You've had a dog for three years and your parents don't know? God, I can't even be home late from school without my mum knowing about it.'

'Seriously? I think the only reason my parents even knew about the whole safe thing was cause the cops were called. I've done worse that they've never known about.' She raised an eyebrow, and he chuckled.

'You don't wanna know, trust me. So, I guess I overslept and you're here to work on our project?'

'Yep, get up. I'm gonna go down the hall, I'll meet you there. You got 10 minutes buddy, so get moving.' He saluted her as she moved out of his room, and she stuck her tongue out at him as she closed the door behind her, narrowly avoiding the pillow he sent flying her way.

'You so did that on purpose, didn't you Izzy?' The only response he got was a yawn as Izzy settled back down to sleep on his bed. 'Yeah, yeah, you're so innocent, aren't you?' He muttered to himself as he moved to his bathroom.

'So, I think the essay will be easy, I mean the key themes are kinda obvious, and we picked a few good scenes last night for the dramatic reading, so we really need to think about the diorama. I think we should try making the stage a sort of rhombus shape, so the front is wider than the back, so no matter where you sit, you can see everything. I always hate not being able to see bits.'

'Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. If we come up with a list of things we need, I can get it before we get together again.' He got out a piece of paper and started sketching. She looked up from her notes at the sound of pencil on paper, and watched in awe as a picture of a stage took form on the paper in front of him. It was from the top, and she could see the wings, getting longer towards the back, sections blocked off with little areas she supposed he'd left for actors. There were a few shapes now, on the stage, that looked like furniture. As she watched, he moved another piece of paper in front of him and started again, this time a front view, and she could see more clearly the furniture she'd seen in the bird's eye view. When he was done, he leant back against his chair, and looked up to see her stunned eyes staring at him.

'What?'

'I just... since when can you draw?' she asked, surprise showing in her eyes.

'Uh, since always, I just never tend to do it at school.' His mouth turned up into his cheeky grin, 'There's always something much more interesting to keep me occupied at school,' he told her, giving her a look that almost had her blushing.

'Yeah yeah, Romeo, enough of your sleazy innuendos, we've got work to do.' She told him.

'I always thought I would've been an excellent Romeo, if only I could've stayed an extra night.' He told her, and she couldn't help the laugh.

'Yeah, I wish you could've been there too,' she said without thinking, and then she realised what she'd said. 'I mean, having you play Romeo would've been a lot better than having Paris play Romeo. Actually, anyone would've been better than Paris.' She said, rambling. He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her.

'Don't worry, I won't tell anyone what you said,' he said, a slight teasing in his voice. 'Come on, let's get to work, I've gotta go out later.'

'Oh, hot date tonight?' She asked, teasing, but she stopped when he stiffened slightly.

'No,' he said tersely, moving away from her, and back to the drawings in front of him. She frowned but let it go for now.

'So, what do you think we'll need to make this? I'm not really all that good with this kind of thing, so you, as the boy, will need to make most of the decisions involving this stuff, and you're probably going to need to do a lot of the construction, cause I helped out on a housing project and it wasn't really for me. So, therefore, if we want this bit of the project to be a success, you need to be in charge. I am, however, extremely good with words, so I can work on the essay, and of course, we will help each other, to comply with the whole 'working together' part, and there's also the performance bit, and can I just say, I think the English teachers at Chilton hate us, and...'

'Rory, you're rambling. You don't need to feel awkward, I didn't mean to snap.'

'No, no, it's fine, I shouldn't have assumed, I mean, of course you could be doing something other than going on a date, I just...'

'It's fine. Let's just get to work, huh? You make an outline for the essay, I'll start making a list.'

They worked in silence for almost an hour, but Tristan noticed Rory throwing him glances every now and then. Eventually, he decided to call her on it.

'You know, you can just ask.'

'What?' She asked, stunned, and trying to hide the fact she'd been looking at him.

'If it's really bugging you, you can just ask what it is that I'm doing. I know you wanted to ask earlier, and yesterday too.'

'No I... it doesn't matter, you don't have to tell me, I don't wanna seem like I'm forcing you or anything. It's fine. Look, I've gotta go, I'll see you at school.' She picked up her bag and books and almost sprinted for the door before he had a chance to figure out what had happened.

'So you just up and left?' Lorelai and Rory sat on the couch in the Crap Shack, as Lorelai listened to the story of the morning's events.

'Um, yes?' Rory answered.

'When he was about to tell you what he was doing later?'

'Yeah?'

'So he was going to give you an explanation for, something, and you didn't let him.'

'Pretty much.'

'Wow, that's almost as bad as running away from the guy in tears right after he kissed you. You know, I'm sorta starting to feel sorry for the guy.'

'Mum!!' Lorelai held her hands up in defence, trying not to laugh at the offended look on her daughter's face.

'Alright, alright, so why'd you run... again?' When Rory glared she sighed, 'alright, serious, I swear! So, why'd you run?'

'I don't know. It kinda felt like it was getting too serious or something, which is ridiculous, but it sorta felt like he was going to tell me this big secret he's told no one else and... I ran.'

'Right, cause that makes perfect sense. A guy's being really nice to you, he's about to open up to you, so you run, uh huh, I get it.'

'Alright, leaving now,' Rory stood and headed for her room.

'Rory, wait!' Lorelai heard the door shut and sat back on the couch. 'Rory's got it bad,' she whispered to herself, smiling.

'Hey grandpa,' Tristan forced a smile on his face as he walked through the door into the white, sterile room. Usually he never had to force a smile in his grandfather's presence, even now when he was in hospital, but he was still replaying this morning's events over in his mind.

'Tristan, you're here early? I thought you had a project to work on?' Tristan shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to avoid eye contact with his grandfather, which of course had the opposite effect to making his grandfather forget it. 'What happened?'

'Nothing...'

'Don't give me that nothing crap, you know it doesn't work with me. I have it from a very good source that you were supposed to be meeting with your 'Mary', who is in fact one Rory Gilmore, to work on your project this morning.'

'Marie?'

'I don't reveal my sources, but tell me, what happened?'

'I...I don't really know. We were working, and I said something about being busy later and she made a joke about me having a date and I got annoyed, then she was rambling, then I was gonna tell her about you and she left.' He shrugged, and moved to sit on the end of the bed.

'That's it? She just left?'

'Yep'

'You sure you didn't say or do anything?'

'Yes, I've done enough stupid things involving her to know when I do something wrong. I can't think of a single thing I did wrong this time.'

'Maybe she just got scared,' Janlen said, thinking out loud.

'Scared of what?' Tristan asked, confused.

'Scared that maybe you weren't who she thought. Sometimes it's hard to admit you were wrong about someone. Maybe she doesn't want to think there's more to you than a rich, pretty boy.'

'Hey!' Janlen just smiled at his grandson's outrage.

'Don't give me that look, you know it was true. And if she's anything like her mother, which I suspect she is, she doesn't care much for that type of person, and she might be getting scared that you're not who she thought you were. And that maybe if you're not, she won't have that defence around you.'

'Do you know how much you sounded like a Cosmo or something just then? No seriously, have the nurses been reading to you again?' Tristan asked, while processing what his grandfather had just told him. For some reason, he had trouble believing that was the reason.

It was Wednesday before Tristan and Rory saw each other again, with him not being at school again. She was almost surprised when she walked into her first period maths class and saw him sitting in his usual spot, like he hadn't been absent for two days. She looked at him, watching his interaction, or lack thereof, with his friends, and looked away each and every time he looked up at her.

This little game continued through the morning and into lunch, until finally they were in English, were their teacher decided to give them some time to work on their projects, so Rory finally found herself face to face with Tristan for the first time since she'd fled his house on Saturday morning. She heard the desk beside hers being moved, and looked up in surprise to see Tristan had come to her this time. His eyes were looking at her, as if trying to read her, and she ducked her head. She heard him sigh.

'So I finished that list and I already got most of the stuff. If there's anything you think we need, just add it to the bottom.' He handed her the list and she passed the outline of the essay over wordlessly. When the bell rang, they handed the papers back, again without speaking. Tristan had made notes in the margins of her outline, and she had added a few little things to his list. She was staring at his handwriting when she realised he was standing above her now, the table back in its spot.

'So, we should get together again, uh, tomorrow after school?' She stared at him with a blank expression until his question registered with her, and she nodded.

'Sure, yeah, tomorrow sounds good. Bye' he watched her for a minute, then nodded as well before exiting the class room, leaving Rory alone, or so she thought.

'So, what's with you and Dugrey?' Rory almost jumped at the sound of Paris' voice behind her.

'Geez, make some noise! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?' She picked up her books, glaring at Paris as she did so.

'Whatever, you'll deal. So I ask again, what's up with you and Dugrey? I think you managed to say the least amount of words to each other as is humanly possible for two people working on such a huge project.'

'Nothing's going on, we were just reading.' Rory said with so much forced she wasn't quite sure who she was trying to convince.

'Uh huh, you know I'm not an idiot. A blind monkey could tell that Tristan is still in love with you, and you, well, you're not as immune as you used to be. No, don't tell me I'm wrong, I'm never wrong, well, except for the whole Tristan/date fiasco, but I was naive. I'm not naive now, and I'm looking at this situation through clear, not 'love clouded' eyes. He's wanted you since the first day he saw you, and he's been in love with you since almost the first time you turned him down.'

'Oh, and does Tristan know this?' Rory questioned, and eyebrow raised.

'Oh, he does. I don't think he really knew he was in _love_ until the night of Romeo and Juliet, but he knew it was more of a conquest around the time of the dance, and if not then, around our date. I heard your conversation that morning you know, when he told you he was in to someone else. How you failed to realise it was you is still beyond me, but whatever. So the question is, what are you going to do about it?' With that, Paris left Rory to contemplate her words. That is, until she looked at the clock and realised she was late for her bus.

She ran to her locker, but by the time she reached the bus stop, she could see the bus turning the corner ahead of her. 'Damn it!'

'Wow Mary, I don't think I've ever heard you swear. I must say, I'm shocked.' She whipped around to see Tristan standing behind her in the car park, leaning against his car.

'Ok, what is it with people today and not announcing themselves?' She asked, throwing her hands up.

'Well, I don't know about people, but I just find it so fun to scare you. You're kinda cute when you jump.' She blushed at his grin, and then shook her head.

'So, not that I don't love talking to you, but what do you want?'

'Well I was getting ready to leave when I noticed you running, which in of itself was a reason to stop and watch, I mean, I don't think I've ever seen you run before...'

'That's because Gilmores don't run, as a rule, but Paris was talking, and the bus was on time for once, and now I'm stuck here for over an hour waiting for the next bus.' She stomped her foot, and he started laughing. 'What?' she demanded.

'I'm sorry, but... you just stamped your foot on the ground. I can honestly say that with all the girls I've known, I've never seen one do _that_.' He told her as he walked towards her. He pulled the bag off her shoulders and swore. 'God Mary, how much can you possibly carry?'

'I have lots of books.' He gave her a look, and she crossed her arms. 'They're all totally necessary for... school, and pleasure and... what are you doing with my bag any way?' She asked, unable to come up with anything.

'I'm giving you a lift home.' He said simply, walking towards his car. She stood there for a second, then decided to follow, deciding not to ask.

'So... thanks.' She said once she was in the car, sitting next to him. He shrugged, turning to look at her.

'No problem. Bus stops can be pretty boring. But, do you mind if we make a stop before I take you home?'

'Not gonna take me to some secluded place are you?'

'My Mary? Never!' he exclaimed in mock outrage, and she laughed. She started fiddling with the radio and looking at his collection of CDs. She had just slipped in a Saliva CD when the car stopped. She looked up and saw they were outside the Hartford Hospital.

'The hospital?' She questioned, and he just motioned for her to get out of the car. She followed him in, and up in the elevator, and was surprised when the nurses waved at him in recognition. He stopped in a doorway, his back to her.

'This is my grandpa's room, that's why I haven't been in school some days, and why I've been busy in the afternoons. I come to see him almost every day. My parents are in Europe, I'm not even sure they know he's sick. So I'm here.'

'It's just you?'

'Yeah, well, dad's an only child and so am I, so...' he trailed off, shrugging, and she put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to her slightly. 'It's no big deal, it was like this the last time.' She remembered what the teacher had said the first time she saw him.

'He was sick in Sophomore year too, wasn't he?'

'I'm surprised you remember. None of my _friends_ do, and none of them know he's sick now either, for that matter.'

'I can't imagine my friends not knowing. Lane knows everything that happens almost as soon as it occurs, only second to my mum, and Jess would know something this big... wait, so this is where you had to go on Saturday afternoon? Oh god, and I said you were going on a hot date, I'm horrible, you're thinking about your grandfather and I'm sitting there making assumptions and-'

'Rory, it's cool, relax. Come on, I think he's awake.' He took hold of her hand and pulled her into the room, ignoring her protests.

'Tristan, you're late... oh, you've brought someone. Is this the reason you were late to see me?' Janlen Dugrey asked with a smile Rory recognised from Tristan.

'Grandpa this is Rory Gilmore. She missed her bus as I was leaving, so I offered to give her a lift, with a little detour, of course.' He pulled her forward so she was standing next to him beside the bed.

'Rory Gilmore, I've heard a lot about you-'

'Grandpa, I don't think Rory needs to hear all about her grandparents talking about her.' Tristan cut in.

'Nonsense, I was talking about all the wonderful things my grandson has said about you,' he told Rory with a smile, and saw her eyes widen as Tristan ducked his head.

'Thanks grandpa.' He muttered, and Rory smiled at Janlen.

'My pleasure Tristan. So how is your project on, Macbeth is it? How is your Macbeth project going Rory?'

'It's good, Tristan's started working on the diorama, and I've outlined our essay, and we compared notes and made adjustments, so all we need to do is make a final choice for our dramatic reading and rehearse it in a week.' She shrugged, and Janlen decided he liked this girl. She was sweet, smart and from what he'd heard from Tristan, witty too. The kind of girl who could keep his grandson on his toes and interested.

'That's good to hear. Now you make sure Tristan isn't skipping out on classes or your project time to come visit me. Doctors said I'll be out of here by the end of the week anyway, so he can stop worrying about me.'

'Don't worry, I'm keeping my eye on him.' She told him, and he laughed.

'Alright Tristan, you get out of here and get this girl home, alright? You can come pick me up on Friday after school. No go on.' He waved his hands, and after Tristan gave his grandfather a quick hug, and whispered idle threats in his ear that made him laugh, he was once again holding Rory's hand, pulling her through the corridors back to his car. They were about to leave when Rory spotted the cafeteria.

'Oh, food...' she moaned in appreciation at the smell, and he stopped and looked at her.

'Hungry?'

'Yeah, but this kind of hunger deserves Luke's.' She declared, and with food in mind, now dragged him down the hall.

'Luke's?' he asked, and she nodded.

'Yes, Luke's. Best coffee ever, and also, best fries. You have to have some, come on, if we time it right, mum will have Luke on the phone begging him to deliver her coffee, so we can order from Jess, he's easier to convince.' She had a slightly far off look in her eyes, and he was about to question her, when he decided against it, and simply hopped in the driver's seat and drove off.

'JESS!! Coffee, lots and lots of coffee, and two burgers with fries.' Although he was only on the other side of the bench, she still all but yelled his name, causing him to jump before he spun around, catching her low order of food before she marched off towards her regular table where he saw a blonde waiting, watching the street.

'So, what do you think of our... unique little town? You didn't really have a chance to give me your thoughts, what with you being a jerk to Dean and then being shipped off to Military School?'

'Do my ears deceive me? Someone else being a jerk to Bag Boy?'

'So you're not a fan of Farmer John either? See Mary, I knew I couldn't be the only one. Tristan,' he said, moving to hold out his hand, then deciding against and simply nodded his head.

'Nice choice, _Jess_ here isn't really a hands shaking kind of guy. That false move could've landed you in his bad books for the rest of time.' Rory told him, taking the coffee Jess held out to her, smiling to herself as the two boys looked at her like she was nuts. 'Don't give me that look Jess, you've met my mother, and Tristan, you've known me almost three years, you should be used to it by now. What will I do with you two?' She sighed dramatically then looked up as the door opened with a bang and her mother walked in.

'LUKE! Coffee! Now!' Lorelai made a bee line for the counter, missing her daughter and the two boys.

'Now I understand.' Tristan murmured, and Jess nodded in agreement before moving off to serve more customers.

'You know what, Jess, make those to go, really, really quickly.' Rory told him, eyeing her mother, who was deep into a battle of the wills with Luke at the counter. Jess followed her line of sight, then sighed.

'Sure, give me a minute.'

'We're leaving?'

'Yeah, we can take it back to my place, work on the project at the same time. Two birds, one stone. Plus, I don't really feel like being watched by the whole town, or having my mum spot us and coming over and embarrassing me, as she's likely to do. Oh, bless you, put it on the tab.' She grabbed the bags from Jess in one hand, and Tristan's hand in the other, pulling him out the door and heading for her house.

Alright, we're agreed? We're going to start with Lady Macbeth's monologue, trying to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan, then the scene between Macbeth and his wife after he kills Duncan, and then do a bit of the scene during the banquet where Macbeth starts to go crazy. Sounds like fun.' Tristan relaxed back against the couch, and closed his eyes, listening to Rory talk. He nodded his agreement, and it was silent for a moment.

'Tristan, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions the other day. I guess Paris was right...'

'Wow, don't ever let her hear you say that,' he joked. 'It's fine thought, don't worry about it.'

'No, I'm sorry. I just hadn't fully admitted to myself that you weren't the same Tristan who left for Military School a year ago. You changed, for the better, and I was too scared to admit it.' The last bit left her in a whisper, and he leant towards her involuntarily to hear her.

'Why?' He asked softly, and she shuddered slightly from the whisper of breath against her ear.

'I don't know.' She answered, moving to turn her head, but she found she couldn't, his hand stopped her, turned her to face him.

'I think you do, Rory. There isn't much you don't know.' She smiled at his joke, glad he wasn't trying to embarrass her. But she didn't know what to say. 'Why, Rory?'

She looked at him for a second before she acted, leaning forward to press her lips against his softly.

'That seems like a pretty good reason to me,' he said softly when she moved backwards. 'And hey, no crying.'

'Nope, no crying. Told you it wasn't the kiss.' She whispered, moving back in to kiss him again. A few minutes later, she pulled back for air. 'Nope, definitely not the kiss.'

'Fruit of my loins!' Lorelai's house came sounding through the house, causing Tristan to jump and Rory to laugh.

'In here mum,' Rory answered, and Lorelai came bounding in.

'So I have it from Miss Patty that you were seen in Luke's with a very nice looking young man not two hours ago and you were seen leaving with takeout bags heading in this direction... hello. So, I'm guessing this is the nice looking man Miss Patty mentioned?' Lorelai asked, looking from Tristan to Rory, who simply smiled. 'I know that smile, that's the-'

'Mum! Let's go into the kitchen for a minute. Tristan, start rehearsing buddy. If I remember correctly, you have trouble remembering your lines.

'So, when did this happen?' Lorelai asked as soon as they were in the kitchen.

'It's still happening, so you just shh, ok?'

'Uh huh, my lips are sealed. But first, good kisser?' Her only answer was a smile as Rory made her way back to the lounge room.

The room sounded with applause as Tristan finished the final monologue and they stood before the class.

'Very nice Mr Dugrey, Ms Gilmore. Interesting choice of scenes too. Alright class, that concludes the presentations for today, have a nice weekend, it will be one of those nice rare moments without any homework from me.' The class cheered as they packed up their belongings. Tristan was waiting for Rory when Paris came up to her.

'Rory, can I have a moment?' She looked at Tristan, nodded, so he left to go wait at his car.

'Sure, speak.' They moved together towards Rory's locker.

'Just wanted a moment to say I told you so.' Paris said, and Rory looked at her.

'What?'

'Just because you haven't had an official coming out as a couple doesn't mean I haven't noticed. And I know for a fact lover-boy's waiting at his car for you right now. See, that blush just confirms it. You might as well let the school know, mark your territory and all that. That idiot Summer was talking about how she thinks maybe it's time to give him another go.' She smirked as she saw Rory's eyes narrow as they exited the building, Summer right across from them, eyeing Tristan across the car park. She was still smirking as she watched Rory make her way determinedly towards Tristan, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing for the whole school to see.

Tristan pulled back from Rory, stunned. She'd been careful about not letting the whole school find out about them just yet.

'What was that for?'

'Just decided it was time to let the girls of Chilton know they can get out their black veils. They'll be mourning the loss of you for a very long time.'

Tristan chuckled, before pulling Rory back into him, bringing his hand up to her cheek.

'That sounds like a good plan. We better make sure they get the message loud and clear, some of them aren't too bright.' He murmured against her lips.

'Oh, come here.'

a/n: ok, once again, I'm sorry it's not an update for one of the other stories, but maybe now I'm back in the writing mood I'll have an update for you soon!!


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